This week we are looking at the 1980s, a time when there was a ‘boom’ in Black theatre production in Britain. We discuss the political and social changes that occurred in 1980s Britain, a decade of Thatcher’s Tory government, recession, and institutional racism. 

We look at Michael Abbensetts’ In the Mood, and Winsome Pinnock’s A Hero’s Welcome. Both of these plays talk about migration and the legacies of the Second World War in very different ways. Michael Abbensetts asks how radical black politics can work within conventional political institutions, while Winsome Pinnock creates a female-centered story about life in the West Indies after the war. 

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References:

Michael Abbensetts (2001) Michael Abbensetts: Four Pays. London: Oberon.

Winsome Pinnock (1993) ‘A Hero’s Welcome’ in Kadija George (ed) (2018) Six Plays by Black and Asian Women Writers. Twickenham: Aurora Metro Press, pp.23-70.

Nicola Abram (2015) ‘Looking Back: Winsome Pinnock’s Politics of Representation’ in Brewer, Goddard and Osborne (ed.) Modern and Contemporary Black British Drama. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.95-112

Kehinde Andrews and Lisa Amanda Palmer (2016) Blackness in Britain. London: Routledge.

Kehinde Andrews (2017) ‘How to stay radical within an institution’, TEDxYouth@Brum (YouTube video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFUymWxfrkQ 

Kehinde Andrews (2019) Back to Black: Black Radicalism for the 21st Century. London: Zed Books.

Colin Chambers (2011) Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History. London & New York: Routledge.
 
 Peter Fryer (1984) Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. London: Pluto Press.

Peter Fryer (1985) Black People in the British Empire: An Introduction. London: Pluto Classics.

Lynette Goddard (2007) Staging Black Feminisms: Identity, Politics, Performance. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

David Olusoga (2017) Black and British: A Forgotten History. London: Pan Books.